Well, the world went off the rails for a bit... COVID, lockdowns, and all of the peripheral that came along with it.
I spent a lot of that time working on post-process, and really refining some of the techniques digitally that I had learned to polish in the darkroom when I was younger. I did a bit of shooting as well, of course - getting into some alternative processes, and some alternative digital avenues - modified cameras, extreme exposures, and even compiling my own EOS / Magic Lantern modifications (I nerd out a bit like that sometimes).
As a result, I've begun revisiting and re-releasing some of my earlier works with more attention to some of the finer details that I feel could have been approached with more precision. I have recently begun updating the Sleeping Bear Dunes series with updated work (represented on this website).
I've also started work on a new series - Char - which delves into use of high key lighting concepts and post-process abstraction, similar to the Rhythms series, but perhaps following a different set of "rules".
Let's talk about that for a moment...
As a workflow / mindset process, I try often try to build projects around a set of conceptual rules, or guidelines, with the intent of creating cohesion between the images in the series, but also serving as a manner of creating some degree of creative focus during the visualization of each piece within a series. This can be empowering, yet also self defeating, particularly if the concepts end up inhibiting the creative process. It is a delicate balance, but in my experience, the concept of a “guided encapsulation” generally serves a project well in terms of portraying visual connectors between ideas.
I hope that these next series' that I have planned fine tune that idea.
That said, it has been monumentally challenging to work without a "space" or studio, which was a concept that I was intent on taming, to some extent. A portion of my work revolves around nature, or environments, and our relationships to those environments, while almost all of my conceptual work is devised in a strict studio setting. In the studio, lighting, backgrounds, and all ambient elements of an image are (or should be) intentional.
Obviously, working in a more natural or environmental space is often subject to whatever you are given, aside from the ability to exercise some control of a setting by being mindful of the lighting based on the time of day, weather, and the physical confines of an area and how those elements play together. While it affords an artist the ability to be much more spontaneous, it can also be much more limiting in the styles of work that can be produced, particularly if those styles require a degree of precision and consistency.
I have always been more of a fan of less deliberate settings, as opposed to ones that are manufactured. But there is something to be said for having the ability to precisely convey a visual concept by having complete control over every element that effects the final image - from the setup, to shoot, to post process.
Rambling onward... the concept of the Char project is exciting in that it requires a high degree of precision with the lighting – a balance between a high key exposure that washes out what isn't intended, yet not crossing the line of being a destructive exposure, and creating just enough detail within the shadows so that the images aren't harsh or excessively contrasting. In this amazing modern era, you have the ability to compensate for inaccuracies using technology, but I try to think of things in terms of film, and within that realm, that's pretty much a bullshit concept.
As far as environmental projects... The first rain of the year came yesterday. The snow has begun to melt. We shall see where it takes us...
As artists, our message evolves as we evolve. It matures as we mature. Our relationship with a muse, our art, our language, is one that requires constant conversation. Like any romance, when the conversation is lost, the romance dies.